School Reform Initiatives Research Articles

The Impact of Middle School Reform Initiatives on Student Achievement and Retention in a Florida Magnet School

The Impact of Middle School Reform Initiatives on Student Achievement and Retention in a Florida Magnet School

Diversity and School Restructuring: Creating Partnerships in a World of Difference

As public school classrooms become increasingly diverse and school reform initiatives take shape, teacher education programs must also change. In large part, a responsiveness to all children is needed, along with considerations for children and families who have historically been less successful in scbool settings. In Florida, African American children currently experience the most negative outcomes among all ethnic groups in school settings. Having collaborated with public schools, the authors identify issues pertaining to African American children and other ethnic minority and poor children that should be addressed in school and university reform initiatives. The paper describes five research projects and presents implications for pre- and in-service preparation and practice.

Confronting the urban in urban school refor

The ways in which urban schools respond to and are affected by the urban environment are explored through a case study analysis of Lowell Middle School, located in the West Oakland section of Oakland, California. The connection between the social environment and urban schools is generally ignored in most school reform initiatives. The unwillingness of policymakers to confront the environmental aspects of the problems facing urban schools is due to the often unstated belief that nothing can actually be done to address the plight of urban areas. In many of these communities, the urban public school is one of few social institutions that provide a degree of stability and social support to the individuals and families that are served. As the only public agency charged with serving all young people regardless of their status, the urban school has the potential to play a leading role in the revitalization of urban areas. This possibility is explored within the context of ongoing efforts at Lowell Middle School to promote educational reform by bridging the gap between the school and the community.

The Successful Blending of Gifted Education with Middle Schools and Cooperative Learning: Two Studies

The results of two studies—one focused on gifted students in middle school, and a second focused on gifted students in cooperative learning programs—are presented. In each study, five sites were identified that were successfully blending the school reform initiative (i.e., middle schools or cooperative learning) with gifted education. The studies showed that the needs of gifted students can be met within middle schools and within cooperative learning programs. In each case, however, specific attention to the needs of gifted students was incorporated in the planning and implementation of reform efforts. Ideas for addressing gifted students within the middle schools and within cooperative learning are given.

Restructuring Japanese High Schools: Reforms for Diversity

Japan's current major education reform campaign is to restructure high schools. Its central theme is to diversify upper secondary education in response to the growing divergence in youths' ability, aptitude, and needs. High school reform initiatives, which began in the late 1970s, were enhanced by the school reform movement in the 1980s and the early 1990s. This article explores the development of policy initiatives to restructure high schools. Japan 's restructuring drives illustrate a departure from the traditional academic and vocational curricula. As a result of these drives, innovative high schools often identified as "new types of schools" and "comprehensive" programs began to emerge throughout Japan. The credibility of these schools and programs will be tested during the remaining years of the current century.

Public school reform in Puerto Rico: sustaining colonial models of development

Acknowledgments Introduction: Self-determination and Puerto Rico Development: Two Models Reconstituting the Economy: Orthodox Development as a Form of Control Silencing the Culture Economic Growth and Underdevelopment Changing Schools in a Changing Economy: The Response of Vocational Education Initiatives Looking Ahead: Current School Reform Initiatives Bibliography Index

What We Talk about When We Talk about School Reform

In this article, Marjorie Roemer tells the story of a collaborative effort between secondary school and university faculty members to implement the use of writing portfolios as a means of assessment in high school English classes. Her story illustrates how this work, which involved the English faculties of ten high schools in a large urban school district, reflects some of the complexities of school reform. The author argues that the process of implementation is as crucial as the proposed reforms themselves. Thus, she looks at the development of this school-reform initiative not merely in terms of its final accomplishments, but also as it unfolded in the diverse environments of the participants and with the particular points of view their varied experience dictated. Through the testimony of teachers, school administrators,and university consultants, Roemer demonstrates how the participants understood change and its process in strikingly different ways. Despite their shared purposes, the results of this initiative were considered a success by some, a failure by others.

Reading the Whole-Language Movement

Reading the Whole-Language Movement

Intentions and Impacts

Federal and state school reform initiatives are often diverted or blunted by local and contextual considerations.